


Dual-Bonded

by kutikue



Series: Familiars [2]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Ansem is a Bad Parent, Child Abandonment, Child Neglect, Childhood Friends, Childhood Trauma, Discrimination, Familiars, Families of Choice, Hojo is not Sephiroth's Father, Human Experimentation, Human Trafficking, Hurt/Comfort, Hybrids, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Torture, Multi, Orphans, Other, Science Experiments, Slavery, Suicidal Thoughts, Unethical Experimentation, Witchcraft, Witches, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:48:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23907193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kutikue/pseuds/kutikue
Summary: Being half-witch half-familiar should have meant they had the best of both worlds, in theory. Witches found them distasteful, difficult to work with and a waste of time and ingredients. Their more magical-brethren considered them near abominations at worst, and pitiful at best. At least they had each other.Existing in a facility run by a madman who only saw you as meat and numbers, who would preform any experiment so long as he could pursue his science, was probably the worst case scenario. At least they had each other.Being twins meant they'd be separated someday. Roxas and Xion had lived in fear of that day their whole lives, until Lea showed up and decided to take fate into their own hands. It hadn't gone perfectly, but he'd do it again in a heartbeat. Nothing mattered as long as they had each other.No one batted an eye at having more then one familiar; but more then one witch? They'd do whatever was necessary, even selling themselves to an evil madman...if it meant they'd have each other.
Relationships: Aqua & Terra (Kingdom Hearts), Ienzo & Isa (Kingdom Hearts), Isa & Lea (Kingdom Hearts), Lea & Roxas & Xion (Kingdom Hearts), Naminé & Sephiroth (Kingdom Hearts), Naminé & Vanitas & Ventus (Kingdom Hearts), Naminé & Vanitas (Kingdom Hearts), Naminé & Ventus (Kingdom Hearts), Roxas & Xion (Kingdom Hearts), Saïx/Zexion (Kingdom Hearts), Vanitas & Ventus (Kingdom Hearts), Xehanort & Eraqus & Xemnas
Series: Familiars [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1696579
Comments: 32
Kudos: 62





	1. Hybrids

“Aren’t they the Mutt pair?” Even in the academy hallways it was difficult to ignore the whispers. Wearing matching collars, the only difference being that Aqua’s was dark brown leather with ‘Terra’ etched into a gold coin while Terra’s was dark blue with ‘Aqua’ on a silver, both dangling lightly in the hollow of their throats, did nothing to hide the fact that they were an unusual pair. But Aqua wouldn’t do anything to hide the proof of their bond no matter what others said.

Witch familiar pairings were beyond common. Being romantically or sexually involved wasn’t even something worth a second glance; several forms of magic could require the ritual of intimacy and some witches practiced sex with their familiars as the main way to deal with focus fever and necessary bonding maintenance. The line was drawn at having a child together. Mixed children like Terra and Aqua were lesser beings to both sets, and even non-magic humans turned their noses up when they realized what they were. Despite having all the rights of a full-citizen, rights that full-familiars didn’t enjoy, their more magical-brethren considered them near abominations at worst, and pitiful at best.

Witches were by far the worst. With the way halflings' magic worked so differently from full-witches, the different variables and ingredients, minute to massive changes in amounts of magic needed varying seemingly at random by spell type and caste. It angered them. They couldn’t teach them the same way, and felt their efforts, time and ingredients were wasted. That ‘halfers’ were a waste. “Why do they even let those disgusting creatures in this place anyways?” Terra’s flinch at her side had her walking subtlety closer as they tried to pretend they couldn’t hear. Just keep walking normally...paying attention to them would just make the situation worse. They’d learned that quickly as children, as all hybrids tended to. As all different children tended to.

She’d been immensely grateful that they’d met so young, life may very well have been unbearable without Terra by her side. It had been her second year at the academy, and his third. He was the year above her though they were in the same class now. Bonded pair privilege and all. They’d recognized the other’s energy before their eyes had even met, and started to sit next to each other to eat lunch. It had taken less than a week for them to attempt to work together, when Aqua noticed Terra was having trouble with a touch of Focus Fever. She was pushing it on dodging clinic appointments and risking a Geostigma outbreak at the time. Nothing had ever felt so natural, so right, as working with another hybrid. They didn’t even bother to notify anyone about bonding until the day after they did it, despite the school’s regulations.

Pointing out that the wording in the school rules specified ‘Witch’ and ‘Familiar’, and didn’t apply to either of them because they were both and neither hadn’t won them any points...but it did keep them from getting into trouble somehow. That, and since nothing had gone wrong ‘Unlike with a certain firebird and his puppies’, they didn’t really care. Not really caring was often the best they could hope for from a lot of society.

And now that they were partners, neither had to go to the clinics anymore. Supposedly there wasn’t supposed to be any discrimination there, as ferals, unbonded, and hybrids all needed help with Focus Fever and Geostigma...but all the groups had their own issues with each other, and it could get messy sometimes, even though medically they all needed the help. One more reason hybrids were ‘allowed’ at schools now, even though they’d never been ‘banned’, per say. The flexibility to either bond or be bonded should have at least in theory made them more valuable to their classmates.

Even in one on one work and group projects, others had been reluctant to work with Aqua. Terra said there had been a pair of upperclassmen who hadn’t minded working with him too much, but it more seemed like it had to do with them being interested in hybrids for nefarious purposes then because of any kindness. He hadn’t wanted to say much more about it, but she’d noticed the way those silver-haired boys looked a little too interested in them. There was also an unbonded boy in the year below them who was nice, she couldn’t quite recall his name but he had brown spiky hair and kind blue eyes. He always greeted them with a smile and a wave, his intentions honest and pure.

It was unsettling in the least threatening way. He had reminded Aqua of the only other hybrid they’d met at the school, a girl several years older with dual-colored blue and green eyes and no partner. She’d been kind to Aqua when she was in the lower grades of the academy, alone and scared. And unlike the others, the adults who lied and told her it would “Get easier”, “Get better” or worst of all “Just stand up for yourself.”, she’d looked her in the eye and said “It gets less hard.” while smoothing back her hair smiling a gentle smile and wiping her tears away. If the gap between their ages hadn’t been so large, she might have tried to partner with her, despite having not presented yet herself.

Neither she nor Terra had seen Yuna in years, she’d graduated a while ago, but she’d always had a kind word for them, always been smiling and waved when their paths did occasionally cross. She’d been the one to convince them that not all witches were awful, and introduced them to her little brother, Hayner. He was a year below them, but was always sticking up for them, and reminding them that they belonged here just as much as anyone else. It made it easier to stay, to not hate all of them. To keep working towards graduation.

Wednesday morning had them in two back to back lectures before a break for lunch, followed by a weekly counseling session mandated for bonded pairs coupled with career counseling before afternoon extracurricular classes. They had all but one of the same classes; Aqua had opted for a dance course for her physical credit, while Terra was taking his fifth year of Judo. It was one of the only times they spent apart since they were now sharing a dorm room. It wasn’t required, but they had both signed on for it, rather than be paired up with some stranger or have to pay the added tuition for a single room.

A new term meant new classmates. There were mostly no new faces, but that didn’t mean they knew everyone’s name by a long shot. No need to remember when you weren’t ‘really a person’ to most of them. This part of the meet and greet was always her least favorite.

“My name is Aqua. I’m dual-bonded with Terra-” Someone was already trying to interrupt to ask about that. How had they gotten to this point in their education and _still_ not learned about hybrids? ‘-and my familiar form is a Fossa.” Deadpan looks. “...its similar to a mongoose.” More stares. “...a land-otter.” A few nods. Ugh. She slid into her animal form to demonstrate, deciding against changing back since several other students hadn’t bothered. They’d set a precedence, she’d just...climb up Terra and sit across his shoulders.

He crossed his arms and stared down at some of the shorter students “I’m Terra, Aqua’s dual-bonded partner- it means we’re hybrids, do your homework. I’m a jaguar, and if you don’t know what that is it’s a big fuck-off cat you shouldn’t piss off found mostly in jungles and some forests. I like Judo and mochi.” He sat down at their assigned desk and Aqua couldn’t help but think he’d done a much better job with introducing himself, even if he’d lost his temper a little bit. The usual questions came once the class started the mingling part of the first day of term.

“So, if you're both, why do you need a partner?”

“Can’t you just use your own magic for your Geostigma?”

“Aren’t you worried about bonding so young?”

And the less polite ones, just as usual.

“So, are you two...dating?”

“Since you’re both both, do both of you die if you sever the bond, or neither of you?”

“What do your parents think?”

Class really couldn’t end soon enough. It was beyond rude and invasive and while she felt increasingly guilty being in a form that couldn’t talk back, she also knew that her temper was more likely to land them in hot water. Terra was a quiet rage, and his glares chased most people off...she’d probably cause a small scene. Not something either of them really wanted to deal with the aftermath of.

Terra pulled an orange out of his bag for her in the break between classes, her favorite. “Maybe we should have skipped after all. Remember the year we did? Thought they were gonna kick us out, they made such a fuss.” They probably wouldn’t have, but it had been a good enough scolding to discourage them from doing it again. As bad as things could be at school, they both knew it was worse for unlicensed witches. They’d have a hard enough time finding work, convincing people they were ‘real witches’ even with the proper paperwork, they couldn’t risk not graduating from the academy.

“We’ll plan a really good end-of-term prank for the winners of the asshole award this year.” A small game they’d come up with. Probably not the most mature way to handle the situation, but it kept them laughing about it, and it was mostly non-violent...no one would ever get seriously hurt, they made sure of that much at least.

They’d only been caught once. And the teacher had smiled and looked the other way, muttering something about how the ‘Little asswipe deserved it.’ Apparently the ‘Almacy Boy’ had an entire drawer, his file was so full. Someone had changed the label on it to Problem Child, much to Jiminy’s chagrin.

  
“You wanna watch a movie tonight? Something really, _really_ bad? Like, ‘ _The Room’_ bad?” She thumped her tail against him once to say yes. Bad movie night sounded perfect. Maybe a bath too. Half a day down, fifty-two to go, and just one more year after this year was over. Then they could find a place where they really belonged. Maybe she’d ask Hayner what Yuna had been up to.


	2. Numbers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hojo's lab had all sorts of experiments. Human. Witch. Familiar. The one thing they all had in common was being nothing more then data; numbers and meat in his eyes.
> 
> But they still had each other, and some nights, they would whisper the names they used to have to one another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I knew this chapter would be longer, but not this much longer. Sephiroth demanded much more screen time then expected.

It was cold on the floor of the cell. Everything was iron bars and concrete floors here, but the cold felt good on her burning arm, where the skin was raw around a freshly tattooed 48. The days, weeks? Had all started to blur together since she’d been dropped off here. No amount of pleading or crying had swayed her caregivers, Hojo had paid them a lot of money so now he owned her. She’d known it was no use, but she hadn’t been able to stop trying anyways, even as they dragged her in front of him. Seer’s curse and all; even at four years old she knew the difference between seeing the probable future and the unchangeable present.

She’d only gotten sporadic glimpses of what was happening, would happen, could happen? Since she’d gotten here. She missed her sketchpad, drawing in the dust didn’t help her focus, help her retain the images and knowledge. And with how unreliable her ability was she didn’t understand if it was because decisions kept being changed based on the experiment’s outcomes, or if it was because the person, people?, in charge of her were fickle. She felt...strange. The wards on her cell had to keep being reworked every few days, and then this morning she’d been put in another location altogether. Not that she’d been overly attached to the first one.

Something was wrong with her, maybe. She felt sick, if sick was even the right word. She was...out of it. But not vision out of it, just. It was difficult. Maybe being here? Whatever they’d been doing to her, putting in her, was having an affect. Naminé curled up in a corner, trying to both sit on and curl up in her hospital gown attire. Being both too hot and too cold was confusing, and even though she knew she was already dehydrated, and crying would only make everything worse, more tears kept coming anyways.

There was a noise in the cell next to her as someone else was deposited. Natural curiosity won over caution, and she slid over to a spot in the wall where the crumbling moldy cement had eroded next to the grate in the floor to peek. Snakes!?...no. Familiars. And from the looks of it, they’d just come back from the same thing she had, though they looked like they were getting much rougher treatment. It seemed like they’d been physically flung into the cell instead of merely shoved into it, which if they were just snakes she could kind of understand, but they were familiars!

The slightly smaller one was still, too still. Possibly stunned, with how close to the wall it was she had to assume it had hit hard. The other one was moving over towards it, making concerned hissing noises. With their mostly black and yellow scales it was difficult to see, but...yes, there were numbers tattooed on them, 19 and 20. And an odd patch of missing, raw-looking skin where scales should have been near their heads. What…

The smaller one moved when nosed, and she couldn’t stop herself from sighing in relief. Both heads swiveled to look at her and she made a small “Eep!” noise, ducking her head. “Sorry…” Staring was rude, she knew better.

Moving away from the grating, she tried to find a relatively dry and warm spot to curl up in. The hospital gown they’d put over her was fat too big but still her only piece of clothing. Still, if she sat just right, it gave her a barrier between her skin and the cold flooring, without having to give up on letting it cover what it could. She was getting used to being cold, but it made it so much harder to fall asleep, even with how exhausted she was.

There was a small bang as her cell door slid shut again. What...oh, food time? She got up and pulled the trey over to where she’d been curled up, the floor a little warmer from sleeping there. It wasn’t much, and she didn’t feel all that hungry, but...she’d feel worse later if she didn’t eat it. Hopefully it was just food this time, sometimes they put other things in it too. There was a similar bang from next door, they must have been feeding everyone. There was a cruel sounding laugh followed by “Oops, guess my hands slipped.”

Naminé moved back over to the grating and put her eye to the space in the wall. What a jerk...he’d dropped what looked like raw eggs that were now falling into the grout of the cell flooring and escaping. The snakes tried to eat anyways, going for the shells and what was left in them. Heading back to her own trey she grabbed the piece of bread and moved back to the grating. “Um…”

One of them stopped to look at her, and she was vaguely hypnotized. Pretty...gold and black, and it had a hood, so...Cobras, not snakes. She wasn’t sure where the information came from but she didn’t bother to question the uses her ability did have. It moved closer, tongue flicking out as if to taste her intentions by smelling the air. Maybe it could sense her emotions that way? With her free hand, she dug her fingers into the space and tried to widen it, scraping her skin several times. She didn’t make much progress but some of the cement was so crumbly from decay that she was able to do something without any kind of tool.

She tore small pieces from the piece of bread, talking quietly. The other sna-, no cobra, had moved over as well, both watching her actions. “I know….its not protein but, but that isn’t...that was too mean.” Carefully, not wanting any of the food to fall into the floor’s grating, she pushed the pieces through the gap for them. There was a long moment where neither of them moved before the smaller snake shared a look with the other and moved over to eat the offering. Now that it was so nearby, she could see the hint of geostigma on parts of its belly. It looked painful.

She moved a few more small pieces over before eating a littler herself, and soon the second cobra joined in as well. They were obviously wary of her, and she honestly couldn’t blame them. Nothing here could be trusted...just because she was a small child didn’t mean she was above suspicion. She could just as easily be another trap, an experiment set up by the ones in charge.

She wondered how long they’d been here.

She wondered how long she’d been here.

More often than not, they were ending up in these same two cells. She’d sit next to the grating sometimes, usually just watching. Sometimes one or the other would come over to sniff at her, curious. They’d never been in hume form that she’d seen, and Naminé was starting to wonder if they were too feral to change. Or too young? If they hadn’t presented yet, it would explain not changing often. Being too magic starved- but, no. At least one of them had Stigma. Unless...it was part of whatever experiment they were a part of? The scientists didn’t bother to censor themselves in front of a number, which was what she was now, since she couldn’t do anything. And apparently there was only one way out of here.

Or, thats what Hojo’s workers wanted them to believe. She’d whispered with others when their cells shared walls. A nice witch with silver hair spent equal amounts of time conversing with her and trying to provide what comfort he could. Sephy had been here for a long time, obvious with the number 1 tattooed on his arm, and he didn’t care if he got in trouble anymore. He shared his magic with the starved familiars, his food with the smaller kids, shoved his fingers through grating until he could hook a finger with someone who was so touch-starved that the smallest kind touch left them near tears.

“Usually, getting out means Hojo’s decided that there's nothing more to glean, that an experiment’s run its course. Disposal is the end of the line for anyone who isn't useful anymore. But there's been breakouts, escapes. We’ll get our chance, and when we do, you run. And don’t stop running.” Apparently, Seph planned on either dying trying to kill Hojo and taking down as many of his assistants as he could...or help as many others get out as possible. The deciding factor would be how successful he thought he could be. He’d smoothed her hair as best as he could, arm bent at an uncomfortable angle to reach through both sets of bars at the fronts of their cells “It's not that I’m trying to die. I just want this to stop. For everyone.”

He’d escape too, if there wasn’t anything else he could do. There was always the chance that a successful escape could mean finding other people to help those left behind. And leaving some behind...even if it hurt, it was worth it, if it meant there was a possibility of saving everyone.

He was a lifeline for her. A promise that someone cared, someone knew. Someone would fight to make sure that, even if she was left behind, help would come back if he had anything to say about it. He was the one who helped her keep from hating witches, and deciding that all adults were evil.

He tried to teach her things too. How to use her tiny spark of magic. Some math, basic reading. She’d been working on kindergarten and first grade work before being brought here. Ansem’s children were expected to be far ahead of the curve, so she had a foundation to build on. She could use the dust in her cell to practice, and keeping busy kept her mind sane. Sephiroth also insisted that she try to keep active, so she tried to do pushups and pullups a few times a day. There wasn’t room to run around, but she could jog in place. Anything to keep from getting weaker, maybe even get stronger, and keeping her mind occupied would increase her odds.

The tiny spark of magic she had to work with had been a surprise for her. She’d thought she only had her seer abilities to work with, since none of her caretakers had bothered with the baby lessons the others got. Maybe it had been too small to notice? ...was it new? Had _they_ done this to her?

In any case, she was glad for it. It was getting colder as time passed. She was worried for the two cobras, didn’t they need warmth to live? No one was increasing the heat, and if she was shivering at night, it had to be worse for them. She missed Sephy. He hadn’t been in a cell close enough to do much more than talk quietly for a while now, and even if it had only been a hand to hold onto at times, it would have been something. Her tiny spark of magic could only warm her up for a little while before it left her exhausted.

She missed the rain too. It was starting to snow instead, and while not much of it made its way into the cell, it wasn’t drinkable like the rain was. She’d had to cut back on physical and magical exercises, the tiny amount of water they gave her each day left her thirsty even without any exertion.

The door opening next door only woke her a little bit, but the **smack** followed by hissing had her all the way awake. Had...had they just _thrown_ them in, hard enough to make that noise!? She scurried over to the grating. The one with stigma looked worse than last time, and from the way he was laying limply, it looked like he’d hit the wall hard. The other one had some sores now too, and was hissing at the door angrily, fangs extended and hood flared even as the lower portion of his body was curling around the dazed one.

She could hear angry muttering as the scientist moved away. Something about being bitten? Were they poisonous? Part of her hoped so, and that the people hurting them would suffer. The rest of her felt sick for feeling that way, hot shame climbing up her face and leaving her confused and upset.

The hissing changed, bringing her attention back to her neighbors. The angry one was nosing at the limp one, and the noise could only be described as distress.

Naminé dug her fingers into the crumbly cement, trying to widen the gap a little more, something she’d been working on slowly as the weeks (months?) passed. She could almost get most of her hand through now, but it hurt “Hey…”

The hissing changed again, more aggressive. He was angry, so angry, posture very ‘do not approach’. Swallowing down her nerves, she stopped trying to move closer, letting her hand rest against the grate on their side of the cell “...I wanna help.” It was hard, focusing the spark onto her fingertip, but she’d seen Seph do this before. If she just...tried to do the same thing…

The hissing quieted. Holding the tiny amount of magic she had was strenuous, and she was already sweating. “Please? I’ve seen Sephy do it, and it's not a lot but…” There was a dragging noise, and when she peeked through the gap she could see one Cobra half-carrying, half-draggin the other over. His hood was still flared, and the look in his eyes was clear; you hurt him, I end you.

Naminé moved that last little bit forward, so she could reach the hurt one without either of them having to move more. When her hand touched the scales she had a nearly seamless vision, and carefully followed the knowledge, pushing the smallest amount of magic she could into the cobra who wasn’t sick before repeating the action on the hurt one several until she was very nearly empty. The second one was starting to come around and hissed uncertainly but calmed down when the one holding him up nosed him in response, as if saying this was okay.

She wondered how often they got even this tiny amount, and if they attacked the scientists doing it or just put up with it because they were starved.

There was a little pressure against her hand and when Naminé pushed herself up to look through the gap, she could see the sicker one was nosing at her hand softly “...sorry, this next bit is the last of it.” She gave him another small zap and felt a sudden wave of exhaustion and nausea.

Oh. So that was why Sephy told her not to use all of it.

He scolded her later, when she told him about it. “Feels like a hangover, or like withdrawl. It sort of is. Don’t let yourself hit empty, it takes a lot more energy to recover when you do,” She...didn’t quite know what he meant by that, but apparently she was still too small for many of the experiments that went on here. “Leave at least a drop behind, you’ll recover more quickly and have more magic to use or share later.” 

Hojo let his assistants and workers do their own projects, have their own ‘fun’ so long as it didn’t interfere with his own work and wasn’t with a number he was currently engaged with.

They’d had their ‘fun’ today. Everything hurt, even her hair. Something...had happened near the end of it. She’d felt _strange_ , and then...the person hurting her had stopped.

They were dead now. And she couldn’t shake the feeling that it was her fault, that she’d been the one to cause it somehow. But Hojo had been very nearly pleased by it, as if he was approaching some end-goal. And that scared her even more.

Anything that made him happy was terrifying.

She’d been nearly overflowing with magic afterwards, and was sharing it with her neighbors. The smaller cobra seemed to be doing a little better now, though nights were getting rough. She was still working on slowly making the gap in the wall wider, trying to see if she could get some of her arm through to share her body heat better. She was cold too, but they were very nearly ice some nights.

She didn’t want to see them die.

But tonight, she was too full, and too warm. If the wall felt nice, then she probably had a fever again. It had been happening a lot lately. She wished Sephy was nearby tonight so she could ask him if there was something wrong with her; if she was sick, if they were maybe giving her something...if there was something else wrong.

They’d been changing the wards on her cell even more lately. And whatever they’d done last time, she couldn’t stick her hand through the gap anymore. It hurt when she’d tried. Was it because her spark of magic was more of a flame now? She knew it was bigger. Maybe she had enough now that she was separated from the cell next to her.

She’d curled up against the wall, trying to keep her crying quiet. She didn’t want to wake anyone up, keep anyone up, and crying just upset the others. Crying didn’t help. She was only going to make herself more dehydrated. She still couldn’t stop, even knowing she was making things worse for herself.

There was a noise, some hissing, and something against her leg. “...hi.” She blinked at the cobra who had managed to squeeze into her cell. Apparently the gap was wide enough now, if they didn’t eat something large first. The tongue flicking at her cheeks tickled, and she laughed a little when she realized they had come over to cheer her up. They cared…

The other one was trying to squeeze in now too. Holding her hands out, she fed them tiny doses of magic, unsure what their threshold was. She knew it hurt when the zaps were too much, the lady who was dead now had been dosing her too much before she…….whatever it was that she’d done. She still didn’t understand, only that the woman had frozen and was staring at her. And not alive anymore.

But her friends, they were friends, right? They were butting their heads against her hands, and seemed happy when she gave them more. It was starting to tire her out, but even with her fever heating her up, it was too cold to fall asleep. At least it was good for helping them to warm up, they were getting a lot more active now-

There was a lot more weight on her lap now. A boy with black hair and red eyes was looking at her; had she given him enough magic to change?

He reached up slowly, so slowly, and patted her face gently. It seemed like he wasn’t used to having hands, to being in human form. She wasn’t sure what surprised her more, that he was only a little older then her, maybe seven? Or that he felt safe enough to use up the limited magic he had to show himself to her. Her other side felt warmer now, and dirty-blonde hair was tickling her arm as a face with blue eyes rested on her shoulder. Even with the hospital style gowns, it was obvious he wasn’t really well enough to be doing this, she could see the stigma sores on him.

They both had a bad scar running down from the lower half of their neck to the top of the shoulder, though on opposite sides. She reached out slowly to touch the edge of the scarring. It was...new. Her eyes lit up in understanding as she got a sharp flash of sight “You were a two-headed cobra. They ripped you apart into two separate beings.” She couldn’t stop the horror from leaking out into her voice, and fresh tears fell down her face. It was an unspeakably cruel act.

The dark-haired one bit his lip and tried to brush her tears away again, nodding. Blue-eyes reached up to tap her temple gently, a questioning look on his face. Shyly, she told them “...I’m a seer. Its. Its why he bought me.” Blue-eyes curled himself around her more, hugging with his body since he was too exhausted to move properly. Dark-hair did wrap his arms around her, and the three clung to each other for a long moment. When he pulled away, he looked at his counterpart and they seemed to have an entire conversation with just eye-contact. He moved back to whisper in her ear “Vanitas.”

Blue-eyes tugged gently on her gown, and she moved down so he could whisper as well “Ventus.”

They’d given her their names freely, knowing the kind of power that meant. “I’m Naminé.” Something in the air felt...heavy.

Vanitas moved to help Ventus take his gown off, ripping it carefully along the seams and folding it into a semblance of a blanket. Ventus fell back into cobra form and was curling up on Naminé, who tried to give him a few more scraps of magic but was nearly empty now. Vanitas motioned for her to sit on top, a barrier between them and the floor wasn’t much but it would help stave off the cold some.

Carefully picking up Ventus, she moved to sit down on the new blanket they’d made. Vanitas moved to sit behind her and started to tear up his own gown the same way, making a second blanket. She leaned against him, suddenly so very tired. He made himself into a chair, crossing his legs around her and holding both of them closer to him as he pulled the makeshift blanket around all three of them. It was thin, and didn’t cover everything even with how small they were, but it was keeping them a lot warmer than they’d been.

They started to sleep like that most nights. Usually it would be Vanitas wrapped around her as she kept Ventus close, feeding him tiny bits of magic and helping to warm him as he healed too slowly. Some nights it was Ventus who went hume, usually laying down and holding her close to his chest as Vanitas curled up in the middle.

Some days they risked it and both would curl up with her as cobras. It was like having living scarves who kept hugging her. She couldn’t remember ever being happier, even with the fear of getting caught looming overhead. The other prisoners helped to keep an ear out, and there was always a racket when someone approached.

Seph seemed happy with the development too. He worried about the little ones the most in here, the scientists didn’t seem to care that they could die so easily. Vanitas was covered with scars and bruising, even though he only had a couple of stigma sores. But Ventus’ right arm was half-covered in it and he was obviously concussed from being thrown against the wall. But Sephiroth was almost never close enough to feed them the magic that they so desperately needed.

Naminé was confused how they’d even managed to get geostigma. Sephiroth’s best guess was that being separated into two beings had jumpstarted them into survival mode, and caused them to present even though they weren't even eight years old yet. They should have been safe from the illness for at least another four or five years, it was extremely unusual for presenting to happen before ten and most didn’t until twelve to fourteen.

This new normal worked out well for the three of them. Nam continued to share her food and magic with them, they gave her some of their water, since none of the scientists seemed to realize they didn’t need as much when they got most of their liquids from food in cobra form, and the three of them huddled together for warmth. Her fevers evened out as the days blended together, and physically she was feeling much better. Mentally too. Everything was good, or as close to good as it could be.

Right up until Hojo decided he was interested in her again.

He’d jolted her with magic, and she’d already been zapped by several others. It hurt. And when his hands were on her arms, she suddenly saw his plans for her.

Dying was her best option.

She was almost a zombie when she finally got returned to her cell. Ventus picked up on something being wrong first, and squeezed into her cell. Vanitas was close behind, unhappy with the level of stress he could smell.

She barely registered that they were there. Ven moved to coil loosely around her neck, going full scarf while Van coiled on her lap, sitting up to look at her. “...he’s going to bond me.”

It shouldn’t have been possible. Bonding was supposed to be a mutual agreement, something that fell apart mid-ritual if either party was against it. But once consent was given, magic didn’t understand or care if you changed your mind, if you hadn’t really meant it. If you’d been coerced.

Hojo’s familiars never lasted long. He either killed them off, or broke the bond as part of an experiment. Having a bond broken hurt a witch, and it was another sign of just how crazy he was, if he found that sort of thing acceptable so long as he got his data.

The act of breaking a bond also meant death for the familiar, though it was usually a long and painful one if the shock didn’t take them outright. The only way to escape a bond and live was if the witch died, though most familiars couldn’t handle the stress of losing their partner. In a normal bond, the familiar often just laid down and went with their witch.

But...she wasn’t even a familiar. Sure, he was trying to alter her, make her different, but…

She blinked down at Vanitas in her lap, and moved her hand to smooth the scales on his snoot. The extra magic she gave them helped their venom replenish more quickly, and the scientists usually took most of it but. “...would you bite me?”

She’d barely blinked and still almost missed Vanitas moving to hume form, hands immediately on her shoulders and looking extremely distressed “Why.”

Neither of them spoke often, and when they did it was typically a single word. She was more surprised that he’d changed just to ask-....no, he was hugging her too. Quietly, she mumbled what she’d seen in his ear, what Hojo’s plans for her were. Vanitas moved back slowly, hands firm on her shoulders and maintaining eye contact “...pseudohaje goldii venom isn’t a good way to die.” Naminé nodded “Its better then…” Both hume and cobra hugged her close, knowing none of them had good options here.

Ventus was the first one to think of a solution.

“He can’t bond you if you're already bonded.”

Sephy was quiet for a long time when she told him her plan. “...a lot can go wrong. They aren’t real twins, dual-bonding would probably go wrong. You should just pick one and-”

“No. They started out as one being, even if they were always two people. I’m not separating them.” She was also positive that if she only bonded one, the other would very likely be killed as their punishment. “...will you help us?”

She memorized the steps, going over them over and over again and repeating them back to Sephy daily to make sure it was correct. It took a while before he had an opportunity to steal the wax for them, but it had gone nearly perfectly. In the meanwhile, she practiced the kanji for her name in the dust of her cell’s floor, making sure she could make the characters perfectly.

She refused to make a collar or slip a ring onto them. They couldn’t be restrained like that, it would hamper their digestion and mobility too much. Getting something wearable for the focus would be next to impossible anyways.

So, the three of them devised a method of tattooing with a combination of their blood, venom and a spark of magic. Part of Naminé was sure she’d never have thought of it if the vision hadn’t been so strong, so sure.

She wondered where the original idea had come from.

Of course, having her name tattooed on the space where their necks were scarred from being separated was very noticeable, the large strokes of her name had come out in a lovely red-black shade that appeared in both forms, 波音. They were lucky they hadn’t been caught until the ritual was over. Sephy had called in some favors to make sure there were sufficient distractions that night.

Angry wasn’t a strong enough word for Hojo. And yet, he was also fascinated. A four-year-old had managed to dual-bond two ‘unpresented’ familiars, with no training, minimal tools and no backlash. Their bond wasn’t just stable, it was nearly picture perfect.

So, he let them live. They had ruined his experiment for number forty-eight, but this was data he wasn’t willing to lose. “You’ll be punished after I’ve collected my data.”

Naminé was seven by the time he’d nearly had his fill. Her short-term visions were more helpful since they’d bonded, Ven and Van helped a great deal with her focus. That she was a little older, and maturing into her magic didn’t hurt either.

She saw how to make the bomb with blood and venom, it was remarkably similar to how they’d made the ‘ink’ for their bonding ritual. Just a different ratio and activation with her magic.

Chaos was having a tantrum, there was never going to be a better time for them to make an escape. She blew the wall next to where the grating divided her and Sephy’s cell, intending to make a gap large enough for him as well.

But his sad face told her everything as she stood outside, for the first time in over two years, looking back into his cell “You aren’t coming.”

His friends weren’t in his cell with him. They weren’t in any cell, they were in the labs. He couldn’t leave them behind.

She understood, even if she couldn’t help crying. Sephiroth reached up and patted her hair, avoiding eye contact as the strands seemed to wrap around his hand and wrist in a mockery of hugging. “...Vanitas. Ventus. Give me your gowns.” Both cobras shifted and handed over the tattered blanket-cloaks that had once been clothing. Sephiroth ripped one up carefully and tied the pieces over Naminé’s feet after wrapping a few times, creating make-shift shoes. The rest he helped to create a skirt-type thing, before using the last pieces to add a sort-of cape to her back.

It was very nearly an outfit. “You’ll get farther like this. Stay warmer.” Ventus looped himself around her shoulders and neck like a scarf, while Vanitas had most of his body coiled in the pouch created by the bunched fabric near her stomach, head peeking out from the top of her shirt, both ready to strike at anything that came too close to their witch.

Seph gave Naminé a small zap of magic before giving several small ones in succession to both cobras, hoping to give them an advantage. He moved back into his cell and grabbed his water bottle, handing it over to the small blonde “You have to leave. Run. Keep running until you find somewhere safe to hide. Don’t let them find you.” Losing that water would cost him later, and his friends would likely need the magic he’d given away just as much as these three would. But if it gave them even slightly better odds, he had to help.

He glanced up at the sky, unable to hide his frustration and jealousy. Hojo had succeeded in making number one a synthetic hybrid. He’d been an eagle for almost two years now, and still hadn’t been able to fly in the sky. The irony of becoming a bird had made him laugh.

A small voice pulled him from his thoughts “I don’t want to leave you…” Naminé had quickly become his baby. He’d taught her, moulded her, done what he could to protect and comfort her. She was so little, the youngest he’d ever seen who hadn’t been born here. “You can’t stay. Go.”

He felt regret.

It stung more when she stopped and looked back at him more then once, clearly so reluctant to leave him behind in this place. But he had others he couldn’t leave here, who weren’t much older then those three. As much as he longed to, he couldn’t fly away. Not yet.

Radiant Garden was the first major city they came to, and it ended up being where they stayed. The police had been baffled when they’d stumbled across her in a less reputable part of town. She’d been unable or unwilling to answer many of their questions. As much as she wanted to send help to the others, she’d already seen weeks ago that Hojo had moved his operations after the outbreak. They hadn’t been the only ones to escape, and the security risk had been too high, so he’d moved shop.

He’d also managed to block her from seeing him, no matter what she tried she couldn’t locate or envision anything to do with his experiments or her friends. The new compound must have been seriously warded.

The well-meaning psychologists they’d brought her to insisted on the line of reasoning that she didn’t want to see, and that was more likely why she couldn’t. Eventually, she begrudgingly agreed that it could be a factor, just to end that part of the conversation. It wasn’t improbable after all, and there were things she was actively trying not to see.

She also conceded the point that she was blocking things out. Who wouldn’t? After the initial questioning though, she’d mostly shut-down in these sessions. She didn’t want to talk about it, relive it. They mostly ignored her partners, writing them off as ferals who she was now sadly trapped with.

When she’d hesitated after being asked her age, the detectives had concluded she’d been in captivity long enough to either not know or have forgotten. She could tell them her birthday was in May, but that was all she gave them. She didn’t want to be found.

They decided she was about eleven or twelve, since she’d managed to bond already and had a decent grasp on basic educational things. “Lets get her in the academy on scholarship, Yen Sid has plenty of scholarships open, and Cid’s working admissions. He loves taking in orphans, his familiar seems to collect them. You’ll like Edna, she’s a sweetheart.”

Just thinking about it gave her several strong impressions; this was not a place for her.

Neither were any of the homes that they tried to place her in.

The three of them usually left the same day they were placed, and while it never took the police and social services terribly long to locate them, everyone was quickly coming to the conclusion that they would not stay somewhere they didn’t want to.

“You're a child, you need to be safe and protected. Don’t you want parents, a home?” No. All she heard was confinement, being locatable. She didn’t trust that these people could keep them safe if someone came for them, and the confinement didn’t sit well with any of them.

Some of the ‘parents’ even tried to keep them in separate rooms, trying to place rules that had them sleeping separately. Something inane about boys and girls, even though her familiars were almost never in human form and they were already bonded.

The main way she kept being located was by taking on work, usually for the police. It was hit and miss, since using her ability in the present often produced sketches that were less then helpful, unless someone recognized a storefront or street layout. She didn’t usually get a good look at street signs or license plates, it was too mundane for her ability to latch onto.

Looking at the future was even less reliable, since just the act of looking often changed how the police would respond, in turn causing a ripple effect for how the situation would unfold.

Most of them were frustrated with her explanations, and “I’m a seer, not a know-er!” wasn’t something any of them liked to hear. Still, they paid her when things did pan out, and when there was a budget for cold case work, she managed a much better success rate. The past was set, immobile. So long as she had something to latch onto, a murder weapon, remains, an earring. She’d located more bodies in a year then any other witch on retainer.

A prepaid minutes phone with a voicemail setup was one of the few things she indulged in, since it meant more reliable work. Even if they tried to rehome them afterwards sometimes, it was more a formality at this point. She was always gone by morning. Detective Kinneas was pretty much the only one whose calls she would take, he never tried to trick her with fake assignments to lure her to a new ‘home’. Irvine was nice to them, and seemed to accept that they weren’t going to cooperate with the system, though he did warn her that not going to school would make it extremely difficult to be licenced as a witch. She didn’t really care, they didn’t need money that badly. There were other ways to make a living.

It had only taken a few months for the three of them to stumble on a suitable cubby to stash their things and sleep inside. An abandoned old school in the bad part of town. Two floors down, there was a janitor’s closet in decent shape. She could lock the door from inside or outside, and it was enough space for her to curl up with both of them, if a little cramped.

Between her occasional contract with the police, selling venom on the black and grey markets, and occasional interest in her sketches for a few munny, they were getting by alright. It was easy enough to get free or nearly free clothing, they just needed money for food, water and art supplies. The occasional medical trip was covered by the state until she was ‘18’, and they preferred to stay far away from doctors unless it was strictly necessary.

She aged out of having to deal with the system, and at ‘19’, things were going fairly well for them. She still looked up every time she glanced silver hair, always hopeful.

It never was Sephy.

Spiky brown hair caught her attention as she was walking to the Sunday market with some one-ounce vials of venom. She’d drawn that boy quite a few times; he was going to be her friend someday, a concept that had surprised her given how solitary of a lifestyle she’d cultivated with Ven and Van. But were they supposed to meet yet?

Vanitas poked his head out from her sleeve, extremely interested in the basket he was carrying. That level of interest could only mean one thing “Van, no! Thats rude!” Just because someone had eggs, fresh eggs, didn’t mean he could poach!

Sora laughed, delighted by the picture of a small blonde girl chiding a cobra “Aw, he’s cute!” Naminé blinked. Okay, so they were meeting today. Cool? She peeked over Sora’s shoulder at his hood, half-expecting a flash of silver fur...but apparently, he wasn’t there yet. So, she got to meet Sora first...neat.

Sora reached into his basket and pulled out an egg “Pretty snake…” Vanitas flicked his tongue out, bemused. But the air tasted sincere, he meant no harm. “Or, handsome?”

Naminé smiled shyly “They don’t mind pretty, but their cobras, not snakes.” Ventus poked his head out from where he’d been snoozing near her shoulder, her constant scarf. No one messed with a girl who wore living scales on display, so he kept himself visible.

Sora nodded, pulling out a second egg “Two, huh? Thats cool.” She wasn’t sure if he realized they were familiars, much less both bonded to her, but they could talk about that later. “Ah, they won’t bite you, but if you're gonna feed them, keep your hand flat. Getting nicked can still get the venom in your system.”

Sora smiled kindly and held both hands out flat, letting them stretch out and take the offered meal while telling them how pretty they were.

Frankly, all three of them were charmed.

Ven moved back to nuzzle her, tail flicking at her bag in a very ‘Give’ motion. She understood, he wanted to give Sora a gift as well. Vanitas had wrapped himself around Sora’s wrist once and was flicking his tongue against Sora’s forearm while he smoothed the scales on his snoot, gushing about how pretty he was.

Naminé glanced at the basket in the crook of Sora’s arm “Um, if those aren’t spoken for, could I buy some of them from you?” The main thing they needed today was food, and fresh eggs were Vanitas’ favorite. Sora pulled out a carton “Here, you can just have some. My brother has chickens, I'm just bringing the extras to the store for him since he can’t go through them fast enough.”

He refused payment, simply stating he got the eggs for free, and since the pretty sn-, cobras liked them so much he’d like to give them a gift.

Someone being so unexpectedly kind was the only excuse for her slipping up “Oh...thank you, Sora.”

He tilted his head in confusion “Sorry, have we met before? I’m usually pretty good at remembering faces…”

Naminé blushed furiously “No, no, first time...sorry, um. I’m...imma seer.”

“That's so cool!” Not the response she usually got. “Well, anyways, i’m Sora. Its nice to meet you.”

...he had really great manners. “I’m Naminé,”

Sora booped Vanitas’ snoot again, still absorbed in the novelty of it “Pretty name.”

That blush wasn’t going away anytime soon “Um, thank you.” Van flicked his tongue out at Sora’s arm, who laughed about it tickling “He’s Vanitas. And This is Ventus.” She ran a finger over the top of Ven’s head, glad he was taking meeting a new person in stride. He was usually extremely wary. Van being so outgoing for a change was probably helping, on top of them having seen the drawings and knowing Sora was going to be their friend at some point.

Ventus flicked his tail against her bag again, reminding her. “Ah, well. Here, this is for you.” She handed over a one ounce vial of venom “A thank you...and its nice to meet you. From all of us.”

“Whoa...what is it?”

“Pseudohaje goldii venom. The tags on the bottom. Ah, The mundane name is Goldie’s tree snake. It's a misnomer, their cobras, but naming conventions are weird.”

“Cool…”

He was adorable. “So, ah...i’m usually over on 4th street most Sundays, for the market…”

She really wanted to meet him again, and this seemed like the best way to-

“Wanna go to lunch next week, after you're done? My treat.” Ven perked up at the mention of free lunch, and Van was poking his tongue at Sora in a way that was obviously saying ‘yes’.

“Um, yeah...okay. That should be fine. I think.” Wanting to have the friend she’d seen already was warring with ‘stay hidden’, but. But, she couldn’t hide forever. And, really, after getting the rest of what they needed today they’d be nearly broke again, outside of the funds they tried not to touch, so a free meal would be helpful. “Yeah. Okay.”

Lunch was nice, and afterwards Sora took her to his brother’s shop, happily babbling about how excited Selphie was to meet her, apparently she’d been shocked by the venom Naminé had gifted Sora.

Naminé had spent all week trying not to see anything, it felt rude, like peeking into someone’s diary. But with her hand on the shop door, she knew something big was being decided, that something was going to change for them, forever. She almost backed down, but Sora was holding her hand and smiling. He’d...he’d be there either way. So, she took a chance, and trusted a witch for the first time in her life since Sephy, and opened the door to Leonhart.

Sephy had told her to run, and keep running. But she couldn’t run forever. Staying in the city had been as much about hiding as hoping he would find her here, the first good place to hide that was still close to the complex. It was time to move past running and waiting. If he was going to find her again, it would be better if she could stand on her own and help him for once.


	3. A Firebird and his Puppies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lea had fallen in love with the two dalmatians the first time he saw them running around and playing together. Having two familiars wasn't unheard of, but it didn't come without risks. He'd do it all over exactly the same if he had the chance; all they wanted was to stay together.

Roxas loved his twin sister more than anything. They’d never spent more than a handful of minutes apart at a time, not truly apart. Sure, they occasionally got partnered up with people on opposite sides of the classroom, but they could still see each other, still feel each other.

They’d done their best to hide the fact that they were twins from everyone. There was no reasonable way to deny being siblings, between them being in the same class and having very similar familiar forms, but most people assumed they were half-siblings or something with how much younger Xion looked, and their different coloring in animal form.

In his familiar form, Roxas was a typical white dalmatian with a fair smattering of black spots, though large for his breed and a bit more wild looking. Xion was even bigger then he was, nearly entirely black with patches of white, and looked even more wild. They were still young enough to pass as puppies, albeit extremely large puppies.

Xion loved her twin brother more than anything...but not more than she feared their inevitable separation. They did their best to stick close to each other, even as the pressure to team up for a term or longer intensified. Being twins meant they could boost each other, and hypothetically a witch, more than a single familiar ever could...but even if working in groups was fine, if someone decided they wanted a bond, well. Dual-bonding was dangerous, even with it being nearly safe when it was twin familiars involved.

And they had gone out of their way to try to ensure that no one knew they were twins, fearful of having it used against them and being put into unsafe situations because of their ‘rare status’.

Someone finding out could mean something as simple as binding one of them...and ‘keeping’ the other. Or binding neither of them, and threatening the other to get what they wanted. They’d been born knowing this as their third fact; the first being their own name, and the second knowing their twins’.

Lea had fallen in love with both of them the first time he’d seen the dalmations running around and playing cheerfully on school grounds. They’d been hesitant around him, very nearly shy...but as time went on and he’d continued to try to earn their trust with treats and offering zaps of magic without asking for more than they were willing to give, sometimes without asking for anything at all, they begrudgingly accepted that he may actually want to be their friend.

As they got older and the pressure started to go up, the twins got into more discussions about...propositioning him, seeing which of them he really wanted.

Lea had been furious when he’d found out.

“I want  _ both of you _ , I love both of you!”

It had been...shocking. Xion had recovered first “But...you can’t-”

Roxas put a hand over her arm, still staring at the red head “...you know, don’t you?”

He actually hadn’t known they were twins. He just didn’t want them separated, thought it was bullshit that they couldn’t stay together when it was the only thing they wanted. His reaction was rather anticlimactic “So...is that supposed to matter?”

Explaining how they could amplify and boost each other had been eye-opening to Lea, and he was even more thoroughly disgusted at how many ways people could take advantage of them; of the fear they lived in every day.

So, he decided to do something truly stupid.

There was supposed to be a process witches enrolled in the academy went through, official channels for bonding ‘approval’. It left a bad taste in his mouth, like so many other things; why should anyone else outside of the bond have any say in if it happened or not? Unlicensed witches didn’t submit for approval, witches who had graduated didn’t. A bond was only supposed to be between the ones bonded, with a charm being worn to tell others to back off; this one was claimed. Not unlike a wedding ring.

He’d read the ritual plenty of times. Getting wax was the simplest thing. They all had blood. Really the most difficult part had been deciding what kind of charm to make. Traditional collars would work just fine between their forms, and Xion had adored the choker she’d gotten as a gift last year. Roxas had even looked a little jealous, despite his gift being a book he’d been after for years. And how many times had he caught her touching it with that small smile?

So...collar it was. He got the leather raw and worked it himself, going to a workshop in the city that assumed he was either pending approval or had already gotten it, and had decided to work on it outside of school to either keep it a surprise from his partner or because the school’s own workshop was notoriously busy.

When asked why two, he’d lied and said “In case I mess the first one up. Gotta see which one comes out better.”

It should have alerted the shop owner, but it seemed a reasonable explanation at the time. Anyone unfamiliar with working these tools and materials could end up unhappy with the end product, and it would be much less disheartening to start over if you had a backup that was also nearly done.

So now Lea had two unmarked collars in a deep red-brown, and just needed to get a little metalwork done. Just something to hold a nice little pendent, something secure and pretty.

He’d picked out a triangle as the dangling part of the collar, had it edged in blue then green a little further in, then blue again. One point of the triangle for each of them, blue for their eyes and green for his. It looked almost perfect, and he was damn proud of it.

And then he messed up.

He’d been scouring the library for anything he could find on dual-bonding, and coming up empty. If he even tried to request access to the upperclassmen area, he had no doubt that he’d be found out...and he wasn't even sure there  _ were _ books there with what he needed. Maybe in the teacher’s area, or in the graduate area...but there wasn’t anyone he could ask. He’d debated talking with Terra or Aqua, but he wasn’t looking for a two-way doubled bond. It would probably leave him with more questions than answers.

Someone must have taken pity on him, figuring out on their own what he was up to. He wasn’t one to look a gift in the mouth; and while he’d been mildly irritated when Xemnas bumped into him, he understood immediately when the silver haired boy deadpanned “I think you dropped this,” And shoved a book he’d never seen before into the red-head’s hands before heading back to his blue-haired dorm-mate.

He’d almost argued...but something about that intense eye contact had made him shut up.

It didn’t have everything he needed, but he figured he was on the right track, or near enough. Besides, all bonding rituals were altered by circumstance. It was one of the few where you could really put your own spin on it, so long as you kept to the three basic pillars: wax, blood and intent. Well, and the charm for a focus, but honestly, even a charm could be skipped so long as intent was clear.

But he wanted Xi and Rox to have something physical, something tangible to prove he’d meant it when he’d said ‘both of them’.

Living in the group housing they had meant they had very little in terms of possessions. And, legally, after bonding he could essentially take custody of them. He still didn’t get why they had to live there with a state-appointed ‘guardian’, since they were adults in the eye of the law after presenting. Too much of the legal system with familiars didn’t make any damn sense.

So, now he had the charms all but done; he just needed to add his name...and he’d do that as part of their ritual. He was fairly certain he’d altered it properly, thanks to the book he was mostly sure was actually from Eraqus, even if he’d had the familiar he and Xehanort traded off on deliver it.

All that was left to do was asking...properly. He had the wax, and he’d get the blood as soon as it was time to guarantee freshness. Xion and Roxas knew his intentions, he’d been extremely vocal about deciding on both of them, and insisted that it was okay for them to stay in his room overnight with their ‘guardian’ since they were at the very least term-partners and he was planning on bonding...even if he hadn’t flat-out told the guardian he was planning on both of them. Besides, he had the room to himself now since Isa had bonded a term-and-a-half ago, moving into the partner dorms with his hornbill Ienzo. Much to everyone’s relief...the feathers had gotten everywhere.

So they went out for icecream like usual, sitting on a roof-top garden and overlooking the town. It was peaceful, a comforting ritual they’d been doing for over a year now.

“Can you believe the new owners are actually trying to sell liver-pepper ice cream?” Xion asked with a laugh, making a face to show how gross she thought that combination was. Roxas’ face mirrored hers “Right? I mean, sky-sugar at least made sense, cotton-candy is a good addition, but ice cream is supposed to be sweet...or salty, but not  **savory** .” Lea just laughed along with them, not ready to try the new flavor yet either. He planned on dragging Isa and Siax down at some point and not telling the brothers what it was before they tried it. Just a vague “New flavor.”

It was beyond fun to mess with the brothers.

“So...you guys doing anything this weekend?” He’d tried to ask casually, but he must’ve given himself away somehow with the way they were both looking at him.

“What are you planning now?” Roxas asked, lightly exasperated.

“Not anything that’ll-...okay, actually might get us in a spot of trouble, but its not a prank this time.” Xion clearly didn’t believe him anymore then her brother did. Lea sighed, reaching into his bag for the charms he’d made. And glad everyone was already sitting down.

Xion inhaled sharply, eyes dancing as if she’d been about to shriek before thinking better of it. Roxas’ eyes had never looked bigger, like they really might fall out of his head. Grinning, Lea held out the collars to each of them for inspection before saying “So...I know its kinda sudden but-”   
  
“Yes.” Xion blurted out quickly, fingers gently touching the blue and green lines inlaid on the triangle dangling down, already picturing it sitting in the hollow of her throat. Roxas just nodded, very close to tears and throat choked up “I...I know you  _ said  _ both of us, but I didn’t really…” Not that he hadn’t believed Lea, he just hadn’t dared to get his hopes up after spending so long being scared. Lea knelt down next to them and pulled them in close “I said it, and I meant it. I promise. I promise, both of you. I love you two.”

All three of them were crying, to no one’s surprise. A promise was one thing, but seeing the physical, tangible proof...made it real.

Roxas was the one to tentatively venture “So...Friday after school?” with a watery smile. Lea nodded “Yeah...yeah, Friday sounds good.” It would give them some time to settle into their new normal before he submitted his application to have them moved to his room. So what if he didn’t get the paperwork in for approval for their ritual; not like they could really do anything about it once it was done. Yeah he’d probably get a slap on the wrist, but being bonded came with certain privileges. He’d have them in his class, moved into his room and out of that shit group-home, and they wouldn’t have to answer to their ‘appointed’ guardian anymore.

Twin-bonding was the safest route to a dual-bond there was. It was still heavily recommended against, even for veteran witches. He was confident, overly so, that everything would go just fine. Roxas and Xion wanted to stay together, and they both wanted this. He wanted them, loved them. The intent was perfect, and he’d followed everything ‘necessary’ to the letter before giving it his own twist.

Months later, he’d wish that Squall had already been a teacher, so he could’ve had someone they could trust look over things before he went through with it.

He used raw magic to etch the letters of his name, centered over where the metal of the triangles dangeled. The letters raised up from the leather even more as he traced over them a second and third time with the combination of wax and their mixed blood--

Later, much later, Squall would tell him that that was where it started to go haywire. Xion’s charm shouldn’t have had Roxas’s blood, and Roxas’ shouldn't have had Xion’s. It should have been Lea’s mixed with each of theirs separately for a dual-bond. Instead, the alterations he’d done made it an incomplete tri-bond; which would have been more stable if they’d planned it that way. Instead, things rebounded.

The ritual worked, but not correctly. There’s been a burning sensation, and he’d heard both of the twins shout in alarm as the final layer of the ritual fell and something  _ weird _ happened. With his magic, and himself.

Waking up in the school infirmary with a familiar on either side of him, both clutching his hands was disorienting. So were the feathers now growing in his hair. Or that he could ‘snap’ fire into existence now.

The specialist they called in had given them quite the lecture, though she’d softened when she saw how freaked out Xion and Roxas were...and how they blamed themselves “...Look, I get why you guys did this. But this was irresponsible at best, and could have ended up much worse.”

So...Lea was a firebird now. Not enough of a familiar to be a proper phoenix, but then he was even less than a hybrid. An artificial alteration, the specialist had said he was roughly “Eight to ten percent familiar, at most.” So...instead of Xion and Roxas joining his class, he’d been moved down to theirs. He had to relearn so much of his own abilities now; his theory and everything was fine but his practice was almost shot completely. Just doing a simple ward was almost as hard as difficult as a full summoning had been.

The school had come down hard on them too. He was forbidden from talking about what they’d done to anyone who wasn’t faculty. Xion and Roxas hadn’t been allowed to move into his dorm either, the school arguing that since the ritual had gone wrong they weren’t properly bonded. They were listed on paper as registered partners, but weren’t being treated like it, not really.

Lea had tried arguing with the decisions; it wasn’t fair to punish Xion and Roxas for what he'd done...and been promptly turned down. “They went along with it. They are just as guilty as you are; blatantly ignoring school rules and regulations that are in place for your safety is unacceptable, and all of you will face the consequences of your actions.” Edna had been scary… He should probably be glad that they weren’t expelled or had their bond expunged. At least getting it formally recognized meant they couldn’t be separated, or paired up with others now.

But the real worst part about it, outside of his partners guilt and anguish washing over him, was the change in school policy. There were so many students furious at them now, and rightfully so. There was now an entire new review process and extended waiting period for  **everyone** who wanted to get bonded, backing up the system and leaving partners who’d done everything correct frustrated.

That he couldn’t explain himself, or properly apologize didn’t do anything to help. No one was satisfied with the fact that he had a gag order in place surrounding what had happened...especially when they couldn’t help but notice he was  _ different _ now. Even if he arranged his hair carefully, or plucked the feathers and put them aside in a jar as raw ingredients, his magic felt different now. It didn’t feel like ‘witch’ energy, but no one could quite pin it down. Being in a different class had him in the same year as Siax now, and he was much less enjoyable then his older brother Isa.

“So, what...are you like, part mundane or something?” It was very nearly an insult, but he really couldn’t tell him the truth. “Or something.” And if Ienzo had been annoying his older brother, Zexion, who was paired with Siax was infuriating. “Seriously, can I switch back to the other brothers? You two suck.” He was really starting to hate hornbills.

Despite not being allowed to move in, Xion and Roxas were at least allowed to stay over sometimes. And once things calmed down a bit…”Hey, its not so bad, right? I mean, we’re bonded, and school isn’t forever. And, everythings okay, right?” It was like a raw, open wound for both of them though. And he didn’t understand why they felt like it was their fault, he was the one who’d messed everything up.

“...it's our job to notice this kind of stuff,” Roxas mumbled from his spot curled up against Lea’s side. “We should have noticed something wasn’t right, fixed it before…” He touched a small feather up by Lea’s ear, a soft look of wonder on his face despite the situation. Xion was curled up on their laps in animal form, ears down and tail tucked. Thoroughly miserable.

“Hey...I’d do it again, you know? Whether it turned out like this or how it was ‘supposed to go’, I don’t care. We’re together, that's what matters.” He’d find a way to make this up to them, make things right. He had the rest of their lives. And honestly, a few feathers were a small price to pay to see the gentle smiles peeking out when they thought no one was looking, and their fingers came up to touch the small triangle of metal dangling at their throats. Even with everything else...at least they had each other.

~

Elsewhere, Xehanort frowned as he looked over the medical report on Lea. Eraqus peeked over his shoulder “So...that routes a bust then.” Xeh sighed before tossing the papers back onto the table “It wasn’t like it was a perfect match anyways. Two familiars and a witch, its been done. Seeing a reaction like this isn’t helping us get any closer.”

Xemnas rubbed against his hip, the bengal tiger picking up on their distress. Xehanort gripped his scruff for a moment before gently rubbing an ear. “...we’ll find a way. Even if we have to work for that scumbag.” Eraqus looked doubtful “I dunno...its been over a year already, and Hojo hadn’t-” Xehanort held up a hand to silence him “The walls have ears...and we don’t really have a choice anymore, we’re in too deep. Besides, who else would help us with a bond like this?” Two witches and one familiar. It was taboo, and even just trying to bring it up academically, as graduate students, had everyone looking disgusted.

Eraqus’ shoulder slumped, his hand coming to rest on top of Xemnas’ haunch “...doesn’t matter. We’ll find a way. We’ll stay together, no matter what.”

The consequences didn’t matter. Once a bond was done, it was done, and the others would have to respect it. No matter the cost, they’d find a path forward. And even if they didn’t have anyone else on their side, it was a small price to pay. 

At least they’d have each other.


End file.
